In one of the wackiest days in Canadian curling history, Friday saw a total of six new elite Canadian teams formed for the 2022-23 season after the initial teams were disbanded or altered. There will be new teams skipped by Calgary’s Kevin Koe, Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher, Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones, St. John’s Brad Gushue, Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes, and Winnipeg’s Matt Dunstone according to Jonathan Brazeau of Rogers Sportsnet. It has also been reported that Canadian Olympic gold medalists Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and John Morris of Calgary, Alberta are retiring from curling. Jacobs, who won a gold medal for Canada at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, and Morris, who won a gold medal for Canada in men’s curling at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver in men’s curling and at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang in mixed doubles curling with Lawes, are retiring from men’s curling at the ages of 36 and 43 respectively.
Gushue is having to change seconds because Brett Gallant is moving to Alberta and joining Bottcher, as Gallant is engaged to Jocelyn Peterman of Red Deer. Peterman was the second for Jones and is now the second for Lawes. With Jacobs’s retirement, and Gallant needing a new second, E.J. Harnden (Jacobs’s former second) is joining Gushue’s team at second. Meanwhile, Jacobs’s third Marc Kennedy of Edmonton is joining Bottcher’s squad at third, and Jacobs’s lead Ryan Harnden is joining a new team formed by Dunstone at lead. In addition to teaming up with Ryan Harnden, Dunstone, who will be based out of Manitoba rather than Saskatchewan, and will have B.J. Neufeld (Koe’s former third), as his new third, and mixed doubles specialist Colton Lott of Selkirk, Manitoba as his new second.
Koe meanwhile has Bottcher’s former front end of second Brad Thiessen and lead Karrick Martin. Koe’s new third is Tyler Tardi of Richmond, British Columbia. Bottcher meanwhile now has Ben Hebert as his new lead. Hebert was the lead for Koe.
On the women’s side, Jennifer Jones will now skip the Manitoba team previously skipped by Mackenzie Zacharias, who will now be third. Karlee Burgess was Mackenzie Zacharias’s third, and now she is the second. Mackenzie Zachariah’s second, which was her sister Emily, is now the team lead. Meanwhile, Lawes was the former third of Jones, and will now team up with third Selena Njegovan and lead Kristin MacCuish, in addition to Peterman. Njegovan and MacCuish were the third and lead for Tracy Fleury’s team.
